A Study of the Relationship between Chinese Ancient Costumes and Water and Land Painting

摘要

Clothing relics have been a valuable source of first-hand material for research on ancient costumes. However, such relics are typically rare since clothing material is fragile and vulnerable. Researchers then sometimes have to seek supporting information from other types of materials such as painting and literature. Therefore, clothing-related painting, such as water and land painting, from ancient China, becomes increasingly significant since it can provide comprehensive information about the clothing style from the era in which such painting took place. To understand how water and land painting reflects ancient costumes in terms of characteristics such as form, colour, pattern and even fabric, in this paper, we study the relationship between ancient Chinese costume and clothing in water and land painting. Based on graphic science, clothing science and history, we cross-compare and validate different materials including literature, ancient paintings and clothing relics. We also propose a case study to show how this relationship can help inform judgements on cultural relics such as determining their age. We believe that research on such relations is not only part of the foundation of costume research, but can also inspire our modern clothing designs.